Luisana Duarte Armendáriz

Luisana Duarte Armendáriz is a children’s and young adult author and translator, best known for the middle-grade mystery novel Julieta and the Diamond Enigma (Tu Books/Lee & Low, 2020). Her debut won the Lee & Low Books New Visions Award and was later shortlisted for the Sunshine State Young Readers Award. She is originally from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, and writes across picture books, middle grade, young adult, and academic work, focusing on stories for young readers.

Duarte Armendáriz holds a dual master’s degree in Children’s Literature and Writing for Children from Simmons University and is a PhD candidate in English at the University of Connecticut, where her work centers on children’s literature. In addition to her original fiction, she has translated several children’s books between English and Spanish, and her forthcoming sequel, Julieta and the Cryptic Rose, is scheduled for release with Tu Books.